A week ago, Thanos Bertes posted on LinkedIn, which I found via Mike Ryan on Twitter, that Google Ads disabled the ability in campaign settings to easily opt out of your campaigns being also shown in the Google Search Partner network and the Google Display Network.
Thanos wrote, “Google has always emphasized the importance of incorporating its Display Network (GDN) in Search campaigns. However, with the latest platform update, Google has taken it a step further by making it seem mandatory, through the use of grayed-out buttons.
Although it’s still possible to opt out of the GDN and Google Search Partners through the “Choose Networks” dropdown, I bet that some marketers and small business owners may feel pressured to include the GDN in their search campaigns, or they may don’t even notice the hidden option.”
Here is what it looks like:
Ginny Marvin, the Google Ads Liaison, responded with this message both on Twitter and LinkedIn:
A lot of PPCers are finding this test to be shady and just not too ethical. Here is some of that:
